Arrangement for feeding parts into automatic lines



' Oct. 18, 1966 F. K. NABIULLIN ETAL 3,279,649

ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING PARTS INTO AUTOMATIC LINES Filed Sept 6, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet l 27 I .5 33$ 1 12 m 4 i Oct. I8, 1966 F. K. NABIULLIN ETAL 3,279,649

ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING PARTS INTO AUTOMATIC LINES Filed Sept. 6, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet B Oct. 18', 1966 F. K. NABIULLIN ETAL 3,279,649

ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING PARTS INTO AUTOMATIC LINES Filed Sept. 6, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. 18, 1966 F. K. NABlULLlN 'ETAL ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING PARTS INTO AUTOMATIC LINES Filed Sept. 6, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,279,649 ARRANGEMENT FOR FEEDING PARTS INTO AUTOMATIC LINES Faat Khatovich Nabiullin, 3 Mitishchinskaya St., 14-a,

Apt. 78, Ruben Grigorjevich Adamjan, Pereulok Vedernikova, 4/12, Apt. 38, and Zoja Mikhailovna Buzova, 3 Mitishchinskaya St., 14-a, Apt. 89, all of Moscow, U.S.S.R.; San-a Abramovna Gantman, B. Rupasovskaya St. 12, Apt. 87, Mitischi, Moskovskava Oblast, U.S.S.R.; Efim Mikhailovich Gertsik, 3 Mitishchinskaya St., 14-a, Apt. 98, and Ivan Iljich Zhuravlev, Sadovo-Chernogriazskaya, 3-b, Apt. 7, both of Moscow, U.S.S.R.; Boris Vasiljevich Marfin, Partizanskaya St. 5, Platforma Zavety Iljicha, Moskovskaya Oblast, U.'S.S.R.; and Anna Vasiljevna Sladkova, Srednjaja Perejaslavskaya St. 27, Apt. 10, Sofia Shaevna Shlionskaya, Udaltsova St. 13, Apt. 1, and Lev Nikolaevich Koshkin, Pereulok M. Pionersky 3, Apt. 65, all of Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Filed Sept. 6, 1963, Ser. No. 307,220 3 Claims. (Cl. 221-9) This invention relates to automatic production lines for assembling various articles, and more particularly it ielates to devices for feeding parts into these automatic mes.

One of the main procedures in an automatic assembly process is the feeding of adequately positioned parts to a point or points of assembly. Feeding devices of most diverse types and designs have been used for this purpose. Automatic feeders associated with hoppers which deliver parts to the automatic line in an oriented position are most advantageous for this purpose.

The main functions of these devices are as follows: selecting individual parts from a bulk supply in a hopper, setting the parts in appropriate position and transferring the same to the place of assembly. These automatic feeders usually orient the part by making use of an irregularity in its shape or by use of the gravity principle (m even distribution of weight in the part).

It must be noted, however, that these factors are liable to limit both the capacity of the feeder and the field of its application.

For example, feeders utilizing the shape irregularity principle, reject theoretically fifty percent of the parts which may have assumed an improper position, thus correspondingly reducing the capacity of the feeder. This is also true for such most effectively used devices as vibrating and centrifugal feeders. It is necessary to note that the capacity of centrifugal feeders depends to a great extent on the weight of a part to be delivered to the conveyor, since the centrifugal force developed in the part must overcome the friction force which interferes with free motion of the part.

Another serious demerit of these feeders is the fact that piece feeding and reception utilizes the same working elements and only feeds a single part at a time, which serves to seriously limit the capacity of the feeding mechanisms.

Besides, these feeders have no provisions for proper positioning of parts in which the irregularity of shape or weight is not pronounced.

These drawbacks are a serious factor in using the above mentioned feeders for stable and reliable feeding of parts to high-speed production lines, such as rotary lines.

Let us examine a case in which individual feeding of parts into an automatic rotary line is done at a 0.5 sec.- stroke.

The centrifugal system of feeding automatic lines (which is most widely used in industry) consists mainly of a feeder which takes an individual part from within a bulk supply, and of a push rod which transfers the part .to the receiving element of a rotary conveyor.

Within the length of a full stroke (0.5 sec.) the following operations must take place:

(a) pushing the part forward (assume 0.15 sec.); (b) resetting of the push rod (assume 0.15 sec.); and (c) delivery of the isolated part (0.2 sec.).

This example shows that no stable operation of the mechanisms can be achieved under such duty conditions. Moreover, the 0.5 sec/piece rate is far from being the speed limit for a rotary line.

The main purpose of this invention is to design a feeding device which is practially unlimited in capacity while maintaining relatively low operational speeds of the mechanisms.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide an oriented feed of parts having no regular shape or weight.

The purpose of the invention is also to provide for the necessary time interval between an impulse signaling proper position of the part handled and the moment of its re-orientation.

And finally, the purpose of this invention is the construction of a simple and reliable mechanism capable of re-orienting the handled part if necessary.

Solving of these problems can be found in the proposed feeder provided with a rapidly rotating taper disc with a number of feeding chutes, rotation of the disc being in synchronism with a receiving rotary conveyor. The feeder discharges the items (one at a time) which are oriented in the plane of discharge (i.e., in one of two possible positions) and controls the actual position of the part.

Final positioning of the part is done by the rotary con veyor, whose working elements can swing through on reception of the command from the mechanism con trolling the actual position of the part.

To provide fora better understanding of our invention by specialists in this field we illustrate the invention by a detailed description of one of the possible applications of the automatic feeder which is constructed in accordance with the invention and is designed for feeding parts, cylindrical caps for galvanic cells in this particular case, into an automatic rotary assembly line.

The description is supported by drawings of which FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical section of the automatic feeder manufactured in accordance with this invention; FIG. 2 a top view of the feeder; FIGS. 3a-3c fragmentary sectional views showing operation of the separators which provide for delivery of parts one at a time; FIGS. 4a-4c diagrammatic views showing the process of accurately positioning the parts; FIG. 5a a top view of the memory unit in a position corresponding to wrong positioning of a part; FIGS. Sb-Sd sectional views taken on lines BB, CC and DD in FIG. 5a; FIG. 6a a top view of the memory unit in a position corresponding to a properly positioned part; FIG. 6b a sectional view on line BB in FIG. 6a; and FIGS. 7a and 7b side elevational views along arrow A in FIG. 2 showing a portion of the receiving rotary conveyor in positions which correspond to wrong (FIG. 7a) and to proper (FIG. 7b) positioning of the part.

Main component parts of the feeder of this invention (FIGS. 1, 2) are as follows:

(a) hopper 1, which accommodates the parts;

. (b) mechanism for feeding parts one at a time from within the hopper, which is set into rotation synchronous to the following rotary units and which consists of housing 2 with horizontal chutes 3, limiting wall 4, high-speed rotating taper disc 5, a system of separators 6, sensing probe 7 and memory unit 8 (only the disc of this unit is shown in FIG. 1);

(0) receiving rotary conveyor 9 with swivel or rotatable part receiving elements 10.

The operation of the feeder is as follows:

Manufactured parts are charged into hopper 1.- The centrifugal action of the high-speed rotating taper disc 5 throws the parts against the limiting wall 4. The parts pass into horizontal chutes 3 and are propelled to the delivery zone. A system of separators 6 provide for the delivery of the parts one at a time during successive verti cal movements of the separators.

The following is a detailed description of the operation of the separators which provide an escapement mechanism.

In the position show in FIG. 3a stop 11 prevents the parts from falling out of the chute 3; holder 12 and fixer 13 are in their extreme upper position; horizontal chute 3 is loaded with the parts.

In the position shown in FIG. 3b, holder 12 has moved to its lower position in engagement with the leading part to be delivered to temporarily prevent further movement of the part.

Fixer 13 moves to its lower position to engage the second part and prevent movement of the remaining parts in the line and stop 11 moves to its lower position to permit engagement of the receiving elements of the rotary conveyor with the part.

FIG. 3:: illustrates the moment of interaction between the receiving element of the rotary conveyor and the part to be delivered to the production line and also the transfer of this part. To this end holder 12 moves upward thus releasingthe part; stop 11 and fixer 13 remain in the position shown in FIG. 3b;

Stop 11, holder 12, and fixer 13 are controlled -by immovable cams (not shown in the drawing) installed in the mechanism delivering the parts from within the hopper.

The parts may assume two different positions in the horizontal chute 3, i.e. heads up (right) or heads down (wrong). If a part is not properly positioned upon delivery from the chute (head down) as shown in FIG. 4a it is turned through 180, assuming first intermediate position (FIG. 4b) and then the proper position (FIG. 41:) for discharging the part to the production line.

In the device of this invention re-orienting of a part is carried out on the rotary conveyor 9 after a definite time interval which ispreset' by the memory unit 8.

Checking the part for proper orientation is done by the sensing probe 7 which is located adjacent the point of discharge of parts from the hopper. The probe is movable vertically so as to engage the part in proper or improper position prior to discharge. If a part happens to be properly positioned, engagement of the probe 7 with the part serves to actuate microswitch 7a, which sends an impulse to the memory unit 8.

The memory unit (FIGS. 5 and 6) consists of disc 14, fixed to rotating shaft 15 of the mechanism delivering parts from within the hopper; of movable cam 16 actuated by an electromagnet (not shown in the drawing) which, in turn, is controlled by a signal from microswitch 7a actuated by the sensing probe 7, and of lever 17 actuating microswitch 18.

Disc 14 is provided with perforations, the number of which is equal to the number of positions in the feeder taper disc 5. Pins 19 are slidably disposed in the perforations and are releasably held in place by 'balls 20 and springs 21 which provide detents.

The operating principle of the memory unit is as follows: if a part is-in improper position, the movable cam 16 assumes a position shown in FIGS. 5a and 5d above pin 19, and engages the latter to move the same downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 5b.

At the proper moment the lower portion of the pin 19 engages lever 17 (FIG. 5a) which actuates microswitch 18; as a result a signal is sent to the swivel receiving elements of the rotary conveyor 9 and the part is turned through 180. It will therefore be seen that the pin 19 constitutes and operating means for actuating the switch 18 to actuate the control means 24 for rendering the cam track 23 operative or inoperative.

The immovable cam 22 resets pins 19 to their initial position (FIG. 50).

If the partis in a proper position the movable cam 16. is retracted (see FIG. 6a) and pin 19 remains initsjinitial position. Since the pin 19 is not lowered lever 17 will not move, microswitch 18 is not actuated and no swivel or rotary movement of the receiving elements 10 take place.

Templet or cam track 23 in the rotary conveyor 9 is intended to control the swivel movement or rotation reoeiving elements 10 of the rotary conveyor 9 whose sense of rotation is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 7.

The templet or cam track 23 is provided with a straight channel 23 andan inclined channel 23" and control means in the. form of a movable switch block 24, whereas the receiving elements 10 are connected to pinion;25 which is turned by rack 26 as stem 27 is moved. The stem is provided with roller 28 providing a followertwhich enters the channels.

If a part is in a proper position, switch block 24 actuated by an electromagnet (not shown in the drawing) connected into the circuit which is controlled by the microswitch 18, blocks the upper channel (FIG. 7b) and the vertical movement of the stem 27 is prevented.

In the case of an improperly positioned part, the switch block 24 closes the lower channel (FIG; 7a) and the stem 27 moves vertically and through the rack 26 and pinion 25 rotates the receiving elements 10 of the rotary conveyor to properly orient the part carried thereby.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in thedrawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A device for feeding parts in properly oriented position to an assembly line, said device comprising a hopper for receiving said parts, a rotatable tapered disc in the lower end of said hopper, a chute disposed adjacent the periphery of said disc for receiving parts discharged from said disc by centrifugal force, an eseapement mechanism adjacent the discharge end of said chute for causing intert mi t-tent discharge of individual parts from said chute,.a sensing means adjacent the discharge end of said chute for sensing the orientation of parts discharged from said chute, a rotary conveyor for receiving parts from said chute and transferring the same to said assembly line, said conveyor including a plurality of grippers, each grip-1 per serving to receive and grip an individual part discharged from said chute, each gripper being mounted for rotation to permit turning a part carried thereby through one hundred eighty degrees, rack and pinion means for rotating each gripper, a cam track for actuating said rack,- and control means to render said cam track inoperative, and a memory unit operating in timed relationship to the discharge of parts from said chute, said memory uni-t including operating means for actuating said control means to render said cam track operative or inoperative and means responsive to said sensing means in sensing the orientationof parts discharged from said chute to render said opera-ting means operative or inoperative.

2; A device for feeding parts as defined in claim- 1 in which said cam track includes a straight portion and an inclined portion, a follower on said rack received in said track, and said control means comprising a block movable to one posi-tion'to direct said follower into engagement with said inclined portion to render said cam track DPCI'.

ative and movable to another position to prevent engagement of said follower with said inclined portion to render.

said cam track inoperative.

3. A device for feeding parts as defined in claim 1 in which said memory unit includes a disc rotating in timed 6 relationship to the discharge of parts from said chute, a References Cited by the Examiner plurality of circumferentially spaced pins slidably mounted UNITED STATES PATENTS in said last named disc and movable between an operalive and inoperative position, detent means for releasably ga 253 holding each pin in operative or inoperative position, 5 3147867 9/1964 Monahan' X cam means operative in response to said sensing means in sensing the orientation of parts discharged from said FOREIGN PATENTS chute to move said pins to operative position in the event 508,978 1/ 1955 Italy. a part is improperly oriented, a switch actuated by a pin 286,685 3/ 1953' Switzerland.

in operative position to actuate said control means and 10 render said cam track operative, and additional cam means ROBERT Pr'mary Exammerto return said pins from operative to inoperative position. KENNETH N, LEIMER, Examiner, 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR FEEDING PARTS IN PROPERLY ORIENTED POSITION TO AN ASSEMBLY LINE, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A HOPPER FOR RECEIVING SAID PARTS, A ROTATABLE TAPERED DISC IN THE LOWER END OF SAID HOPPER, A CHUTE DISPOSED ADJACENT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID DISC FOR RECEIVING PARTS DISCHARGE FROM SAID DISC BY CENTRIFUGAL FORCE, AND ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM ADJACENT THE DISCHARGE END OF SAID CHUTE FOR CAUSING INTERMITTENT DISCHARGE OF INDIVIDUAL PARTS FROM SAID CHUTE, A SENSING MEANS ADJACENT THE DISCHARGE END OF SAID CHUTE FOR SENSING THE ORIENTATION OF PARTS DISCHARGED FROM SAID CHUTE, A ROTARY CONVEYOR FOR RECEIVING PARTS FROM SAID CHUTE AND TRANSFERRING THE SAME TO SAID ASSEMBLY LINE, AND CONVEYOR INCLUDING A PLURALLITY OG GRIPPERS, EACH GRIPPER SERVING TO RECEIVE AND GRIP AN INDIVIDUAL PART DISCHARGE FROM SAID CHUTE, EACH GRIPPER BEING MOUNTED FOR ROTATION TO PERMIT TURNING A PART CARRIED THEREBY THROUGH ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DEGREES, RACK AND PINION MEANS FOR ROTATING EACH GRIPPER, A CAM TRACK FOR ACTUATING SAID RACK, AND CONTROL MEANS TO RENDER SAID CAM TRACK INOPERATIVE, AND A MEMORY UNIT OPERATING IN TIMED RELATIONSHIP TO THE DISCHARGE OF PARTS FROM SAID CHUTE, SAID MEMORY UNIT INCLUDING OPERATING MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID CONTROL MEANS TO RENDER SAID CAM TRACK OPERATIVE OR INOPERATIVE AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID SENSING MEANS IN SENSING THE ORIENTATION OF PARTS DISCHARGE FROM SAID CHUTE TO RENDER SAID OPERATING MEANS OPERATIVE OR INOPERATIVE. 